NOTE:  This is a moderate length post with no photos.

WEDNESDAY 14 August 2024 — Hardwood floor refinishing

 Christine, the owner of Boardwalk Floors (Milford), arrived promptly at 10 AM to look at our oak floor refinishing project.  Another experienced and knowledgeable business owner, she understood quickly what we wanted to accomplish with the project, and made several suggestions that we had not previously received.  She e-mailed her estimate (quote?) that afternoon.

One of the things we heard from all three of the flooring contractors we met with was that the refrigerator and range have to be removed from the space before the work begins.  The range is natural gas, so it will just have to sit somewhere (inside the house) until it is re-installed.  There’s no room in the garage at the moment, so it will probably end up in the living room.  We have a corner in the living room with a duplex 120VAC/15A receptacle where the refrigerator can sit and be plugged in so we can use it.  We won’t have chilled water or ice, but we will survive without them.  We will be responsible for having the appliances removed and re-installed, and will hire someone to do this work.

Heritage Hardwood Floors and Boardwalk both indicated that the second half of October would work well for them.  Functional Floors indicated that they could do the work later this month or in September, but October would be fine with them as well.  This month seemed too quick for us, and we will be traveling from mid-late September to early October, so we are looking at Monday, October 14 as a possible start date.  All three companies indicated that this would be at least a 1-week job, and their intention would be to start on Monday and have it done by the end of the day on Friday.

While the work is ongoing, and for about a week afterwards, we will not be able to walk on the floor.  That means we cannot use it to move from one part of the house to another.  It also means we cannot use our kitchen or have access to our pantry, crockery, utensils, small appliances, medications, etc.  Nor will we be able to access our hall bathroom, small and middle bedrooms, our two coat closets, the linen closet, and the basement stairs.  That sounds like a big potential problem, but we think it will be quite workable.

Our bedroom has a doorwall to the upper deck and has an on-suite bathroom and walk-in closet.  Our library has a front and rear doorwall, with the rear doorwall opening onto our middle deck, but also has a doorwall into the living room.  There is also a door from the library to the garage as well as a rear entry door to the garage.  (The library was originally a breezeway between the garage and the house, so all means of egress are outdoor rated.)  The basement is a walkout with a doorwall, so we have access to that part of the house without using the inside stairs.

There is a bar area in the basement rec room, with a microwave and an old Jenn-Air cooktop/oven.  Linda intends to move the Breville toaster/oven from the kitchen to the basement, as she does not intend to use the Jenn-Air, but it’s there if we decide we need it.  There is also a bar sink that includes a faucet for our RO system.  Our TV is down there, along with my office, the laundry, and a full bathroom, so we think the house will be quite useable while the work is ongoing.

As long as we move a anything/everything we might need out of rooms we cannot access, we will be able to get to the rest of the house by using outside pathways.  Since we will have to leave the doorwalls unlocked, one of us will be home at all times.  The cat (Cabela) will still have access to the library (food, water, sleep at night), as well as our bedroom (door to the hallway closed) and possibly the basement.  The issue with the basement will be sealing off the staircase so she cannot go upstairs.

Besides having the refrigerator and range removed and getting everything we need out of inaccessible areas, we will have a few things to do in advance of the work beginning.  This includes removing the existing “baseboards” (which are actually door casing) and scraping out the small gaps between the floor boards.  The floor boards are tongue-and-groove with beveled edges, so these gaps are an intentional “decorative” feature.  They are not our favorite feature in the house, but they are okay and will remain after the refinishing is done.  The refinishing will look better, however, if we clean all of the grooves before they are sanded and stained.  This will be hand work, done on our hands and knees.

I spent most of the rest of the day in my office, dealing with e-mails and working on blog posts.  I selected and post-processed additional photos and worked on narrative.  Linda continued with her deep-cleaning in the kitchen, going after the grout for the tiles on the countertops and the floor on three sides of the island.

Mike & Sheila went to Greenfield Village in Dearborn today.  They got back a bit later and we did not see them this evening.

For dinner, Linda served a vegan Korean BBQ (TVP) product over white rice.  It was very tasty.  For dessert, we had a few cookies (animal crackers) and peppermint bark dark chocolate (Lake Champlain Chocolate Company) and watched the last two episodes of the final season of The Last Detective on Prime.

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